Dec. 24th 2017

Brett and Christmas Cash

Beautiful lake reflection on our daily walk

Another beautiful sunrise over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Dec.24th 2017
Merry Christmas eve! We are still at Brad and Mallory's. They are having a great time in New Zealand. We haven't lost the cat Aspen yet, and the dog is getting a little less obnoxious. He is still needy, but does not have to his face in our face allll of the time. We have been having fun with Brett. Tom loaded a game Roblox on the computer for him and he loves it so much that we have had to limit his playing time to one hour, 3 times a day. He and I went to see Ferdindad at the movies last week and he also had a friend Nathan over one day. We stay busy but not overly so here. Trish and Scott from next door are coming over today for a Christmas drink. I walk almost every day with the dog. We are going over to Tammy's moms for brunch on the day after Christmas.

our charges. Cash and Aspen

Cookie bakers

Toms best friend Aspen

Cant escape the snow

Dec. 10 2017

Well, we couldn't go a winter without seeing snow and we got it here in  Va. A solid INCH yesterday!! Pretty, but I could stick with the fall type weather. Cash, Tom and I have walked almost daily since being here at Brads. That is the nice thing about dogs. They are always willing to walk. I like that. So far we haven't lost the cat, dog enjoys walks and Brett is so fun to be around. I miss him when he has to go to his Mom's. We went to the neighbors Trish and Scott yesterday for a very delicious dinner of ribs. Yumm, yum. Brett and I made some xmas cookies on Friday, with a bit of toms help. Brett was a great help decorating. Couldn't have done it without him. Otherwise, we have been pretty laid back since arriving here. Tom's cousin Steve Rykal came over from Richmond to watch the packer game with him on sunday. Cash and I went for a long walk and came home to cheer on the packers to a OT win.

snow "storm" dec 2017. crozet va.

Brettt is an expert decorator!

Chocolate Kisses are a MUST on peanut butter blossum's!

Our silly boy brett!

Nov 28th 2017
We are now at Brad and Mallory's until after the first of the year. Loved our time at Gulf Shores and have booked for next year also in Nov/Dec. Loved spending time with our friends. We had a great Thanksgiving. We ordered a meal from Publix and all we had to do was heat and eat. Surprisingly good. We left the camper in Gulf Shores in their storage area. Site # F019. The trip to brads was interesting. the highway 65 was nuts on sunday. we finally had to get off the road and take back roads. Note to self never travel again on a holiday weekend! I completed my goal of 200miles on my bike while at the state park. Nice trails.

Yeah baby! 200 miles!

Miss Lefty. Resident park alligator. Only 3 feet and blind in one eye. 

one of our nightly sunsets at the park

Nov. 21 2017
we are still loving the gulf state park. we reserved the same spot for next nov/dec. #250. $200 deposit put down. we have done a lot more bike riding. I think I have put on around 130 miles so far. shooting for 200 by the time we leave. we are planning on leaving to go to brads on sunday.  we have eaten out quite a bit. The Diner was great, as was the Steamer. Also, a fun spot was the Pink Pony. We have gotten together most late afternoon/early evenings with Todd, Beth, Laurie, John and new friends George and Barb. Fun fun group. We laugh almost constantly.

Roxi, Beth, Tom,Todd,George, John, Barb and Laurie. Our "group"

Beach walkers!

Gulf sunset taken at the Pink Pony Pub. Great place!

John and Laurie. Our Canadian buddy's

Girls just wanna have fun!

The "friendly" alligator on the bike trail

Pure white sand

Beth and I flyin high at the Blue Angels show!Nov 15th 2017 Still parked at the Gulf Shores state park. Lovely, lovely park. The bike trails are amazing! I read somewhere that there are around 28 miles of trails! I have put on 75 miles here already. woo hoo! I love it. So far I have ridden almost all of them. Beth is always a willing rider to go with me. Yesterday we came across a water moccasin on the trail. scared the daylights out of us. tom is even putting on miles everyday! Monday, friends Laurie and John Tamas and their friends George and Barb arrived and will be here until the end of the month also. So good to see our friends from Canada. Beth and I went to see the Blue Angels in Pensacola last Friday and it was such a good show! And It was Free! We went to THE Steamer last night for dinner with Beth and Todd because we had a $25 coupon to use but after the bill came and we gave the server the coupon and she said we were at the wrong place! Damn. So it cost us $45 to eat..Now we have 2 coupons to use in 10 days..We have done quite a bit of touring around since we arrived and it seems like it is an easy town to get around in. NOvember is their quiet month and I would be willing to come back down next year. Tonight we are all going to go to the Pink Pony for cocktails and watch the sunset over the gulf. It has been very windy all week but the temps are back in the 70's after a cooler weekend last weekend. Beach day is scheduled for tomorrow. Goodness, when did I have time to WORK!

Mom's 86th birthday!

Branson sunset

Camping spot Ozark Country RV park. Branson

Downtown Branson from the boat

Riverboat ride in Branson Mo

Tom and I with Ed and Pat Lenard at the Badger Game.

Camping in Kevin and Aprills driveway. Great Price!!!!

Aprill and I with our huge Bloody Marys. $12 In Dundas Wi.  We were stuffed afterwards!

Tom and I on the RiverBoat cruise in Bransob

Downtown French Quarter. New ORleans

Free Music, but drinks expensive

Local guy drunk on the street. He could barely walk

Bourbon  street

Gulf Shores fishing pier, with Todd and Beth Ehlenfeldt

Camping spot at Gulf Shores state park. #250

Nov 5th 2017
 Well, we made it to Gulf Shores State Park without any difficulty. Yeah!! It is a beautiful state park with MILES of bike/walking paths I even got tom out to do some biking.Also a lake across the street for kayaking.. We are in site 250 for the cost of $711 per mo., that includes all taxes and resort fees. Beth and Todd Ehlenfeldt also arrived on the1st and are parked next to us. Fun to have friends in the campground. We have driven around town and checked a few things out. Restaurant prices seem reasonable and once we got the feeling for the area it seems easy to get around. While we were in New Orleans we took a trip down to the French Quarter and Bourbon street on Halloween day. Lots of dressed up people, but I am not sure if Halloween had anything to do with that. Interesting city. I would like to spend a bit more time there. Tom and Todd are going to buy a license to fish off of the pier so hopefully we will have fresh fish frequently! Poor beth is not a big fan of fish.